It’s less than two weeks now until Christmas day and we trust you are all super organised and have all your gifts purchased and wrapped; cards all written and the house all decorated. No? No, us neither. One Shropshire mum sounds much more organised than us and has written about the wonder of Christmas as a parent, sharing how her family are preparing for the festive time.

Christmas is such a fabulous way to see the world through a child’s eyes. It once again becomes magical and even the most Ebenezer Scrooge like amongst us surely can’t fail to enjoy those special moments that fill your child’s world with magic and excitement.

“How many days until Christmas, mum?” have been the words most frequently uttered in our house for the last few weeks now. When my children eventually got to open door number 1 on their advent calendar- with squeals of excitement so loud it hurt my ears- the countdown to Christmas really began.

We like to get our tree up early so on the first Sunday morning in December we all got our wellies on and ventured out to a local Farm shop to choose our tree. It was so nice to go and walk through all of the trees and pick the one we liked the most. I’d like to say it was an easy decision but we were there for a good 10 minutes changing our mind. We eventually plumped for a big and full one that my son said looked as if it could fit the most presents under!

We also went to visit Santa in his grotto in Pride Hill Shopping Centre in Shrewsbury (It is situated on the middle level). Santa and his elves were so kind to the children and made sure that they knew their names. They were given a fantastically generous gift too- by far the nicest gift that we’ve ever received from a ‘Santa’. I would definitely recommend taking your children there if you are shopping in Shrewsbury this Christmas.

To round off such a lovely Christmas weekend what else could we do but write a letter to Santa?! I have an amazing tip to share to receive a personal reply from the man himself. All you need to do is write your letter to Santa and include the following information- your child’s name, gender, and address. Address the envelope to Father Christmas, Santa’s Grotto, Reindeerland, SAN TA1 and most importantly, put a stamp on it and do it by 14th December.

Written by Laura, mum to 3.

If you have any ideas for Christmas why not share them in the comments box below, or if you would like to write a blog about your family Christmas drop an email to ShropshireFIS@shropshire.gov.uk Next week we have a blog on how to survive Christmas with the relatives!